South Dakota Supreme Court rules vehicle can be confiscated over $50 drug bust

By Brian Cole

Published on March 30, 2006

Adam Kroupa, the owner of the 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee, argued that his constitutional rights were being violated when authorities confiscated his vehicle after a small amount of methamphetamines where found in by Sioux Falls Police.

Kroupa noted that the eighth amendment prohibits excessive bail, fines and punishment. The state Supreme Court decision overruled a decision by Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Caldwell who had previously ruled that the punishment was excessive.

It was noted in the state Supreme Court that Kroupa was on federal parole when the drugs where found in his car. He therefore faced a possible 15 years in prison as a habitual offender.

"An assesment of all the relevant factors in this situation does not suggest that this forfeiture was grossly disproportionate to the gravity of the offense," wrote Chief Justice David Gilbertson.

The two dissenters, Justices Richard Sabers and Judith Meierhenry, believed the confiscation amounted to an excessive penalty.

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